Friday, March 03, 2017

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — TSSAA high
school basketball tournaments are returning like robins this spring to
the campus of Middle Tennessee State University, and the university is making
temporary parking and traffic changes to accommodate its welcome guests.

The TSSAA Division I High School Basketball
Tournaments are set March 8-11 for
the girls and March 15-18 for the
boys inside Murphy Center’s Hale Arena on the northwest side of the MTSU
campus.

As a result, all motorists should be aware
of several factors affecting campus roads and parking.

·MTSU’s East Main Street
and Rutherford Boulevard entrances once again will be the most convenient
campus entry points during the tournaments, university officials said. The
traffic gate on Old Main Circle at the east side of the Cope Administration
Building, which normally restricts traffic access to the inner campus, will be
open for both tournaments.

·The Greenland Drive
parking lotwill again be reserved
for TSSAA ticketholders during both tournaments, and vehicles must pay $5 to
park there. Students and faculty who use the Greenland Drive lot should prepare
now to find alternative parking on campus, including the Tennessee Livestock
Pavilion lot off Greenland Drive
and the Rutherford Boulevard parking lots.

·The university will reserve parking during the tournaments in
the Middle Tennessee Boulevard (Woodfin),
Cason-Kennedy Nursing Building, Holmes and Smith Field lots for vehicles
displaying appropriate campus permits. Visitors with appropriate permits also
will be allowed to park in those lots.

·The Champion Way entrance
at Greenland Drive will be closed March 8-11 and March 15-18, and eastbound
Greenland Drive traffic will be directed to Rutherford Boulevard. Campus
traffic can still exit via Champion Way onto Greenland.

·Faulkinberry
Drive and Normal Way will be closed
to accommodate TSSAA team buses. No parking or street access will be available.

University
officials are encouraging motorists to avoid Middle Tennessee Boulevard if
possible, or at least allow extra time to reach their destinations, because of
ongoing road construction and the additional tournament traffic congestion
around campus. They also can use the university’s perimeter parking lots,
including the Tennessee Livestock Pavilion and Rutherford lots, during the
tournaments.

MTSU
will be on spring break March 6-11, during the first TSSAA tournament. No
classes will be held, but university offices will be open regular hours.

The
Raider Xpress shuttle service will not run while the university is on spring
break. It will operate on its normal schedule during the boys' TSSAA
tournament, however, with the exception of the "Green Route,” which will
not serve the Greenland Drive parking lot.

All
other events scheduled on campus during the tournaments will be allowed
first-come, first-served parking in any of MTSU’s free lots, based on availability.

A
searchable campus map with parking and travel notes is available at http://tinyurl.com/MTSUParkingMap.

For
more information about MTSU traffic, parking and road closures, call the MTSU Parking and Transportation
Services at 615-898-2850 between 7:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. Central time or visit http://www.mtsu.edu/parking. For more
information about the TSSAA state tournaments, visit http://www.tssaa.orgor
call 615-889-6740.